Kerala has reported around 14,000 excess deaths in 2021 in comparison to 2015-2019 as per data from the Civil Registration System. Excess mortality is a term used to refer to the number of deaths from all causes during a crisis above and beyond what we would have expected to see under ‘normal’ conditions.
What are excess deaths?
According to Our World in Data, "Excess mortality is a more comprehensive measure of the total impact of the pandemic on deaths than the confirmed COVID-19 death count alone."
It captures not only the confirmed deaths but also COVID-19 deaths that were not correctly diagnosed and reported as well as deaths from other causes that are attributable to the overall crisis conditions.
Excess deaths reported in Kerala
According to data from the CRS in Kerala, between January 1 and May 31 this year, Kerala has officially registered 1,13,372 all-cause deaths, including infant deaths and stillbirths, the News Minute reported.
The state on average registered 98,387 deaths from January 1 to May 31 every year from 2015 and 2019. Compared with the 1.13 lakh deaths registered during the same period this year, Kerala has an excess all-cause death of about 14,535 in 2021, the report said.
While comparing the number of deaths between 2019 and 2021 only for the same period, the excess deaths stand at 8,867 in 2021, TNM analysis revealed.
An IAS officer told the publication that these numbers could rise marginally as there are people who tend to register deaths after the stipulated period of 21 days.
Under section 13 (delayed registration of birth and deaths) of the Registration of Births and Deaths Act, 1969, deaths can be freely registered within the stipulated time of 21 days of the passing of the person concerned.
It can also be registered within 30 days (with payment of fees), or within one year (with fee and authorised letter from the state government) or beyond one year (with an order from Magistrate of First Class or Presidency Magistrate).
The Civil Registration System is a nationwide system of recording all births and deaths, led by the Office of the Registrar General of India and implemented by state governments. The CRS is meant to record all deaths from all causes and all locations.
How did Kerala fare in comparison to other southern states
Andhra Pradesh reported over 1,30,000 deaths in May 2021, which is nearly five times the usual number of deaths reported in the month, as reported by Scroll.
"In all, the excess mortality reported by the state from January to May 2021 was 34 times the official COVID-19 toll for the same time," the report said.
In Karnataka, the number of excess deaths registered by the Civil Registration System (CRS) from April 2020 to May 2021, was 1,67,788, which is 5.8 times the official reported figure of 29,090 deaths for the same period, as per The Hindu's report.
Similarly, Tamil Nadu recorded 1.29 lakh excess deaths (7.5 times the official COVID-19 deaths), as per a report in The Hindu.